EVE Online: Incursion – Character Creation

EVE Online released its 1,232nd patch, content, upgrade, expansion yesterday. While the meat of the update doesn’t particularly appeal to a pirate like myself. I was still simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the new character creation process that every player must do over the coming weeks.

You see I’ve been playing in one form or another since before EVE hit the shelves. I have grown accustomed to my avatars. They were all carefully made, each had their own hidden narrative that helped me create them and a personality that only I could see or appreciate. So I approached this day with a little apprehension. These avatars stood as signposts in my EVE story I would mourn the loss of their bumpy faces.

I took precautions, saving each pilots portrait in hi-res to act as a guide when recreating them anew. With the old portraits carefully stored away in a folder that should be called nostalgia, I updated my EVE client.

Here is the character creation screen. (click an image for Hi-Res)

My muscles have muscles

Acting quickly I cover up Ealiom’s abs they were sending me into a shame spiral that only a pizza and snickers could pull me out of. The rush didn’t do Eali’s style any justice.

Lookin' Fine

I have to say that I did find the clothing options to be rather limited. In some cases there were only a few styles with each having multiple colours. So with the reassurance that I probably didn’t look like too big of a tool I began sculpting Ealiom’s face.

This is not makeup. It's the sculpting tool. Honest... Ealiom shoots makeup.

The interface is very simple to get to grips with. Each race and bloodline has a set amount of characteristics that define their face. The underlying bone structure can only be morphed in a limited fashion. This is to prevent (limit) mutant monstrosities being created. Despite being unique, players’ pilots will still look as if they belong to a particular race. This is a fantastic feat in of itself.

While I had Ealiom’s old portrait at hand I quickly found that there were not enough options to allow me to perfectly recreate it, though I think I got pretty close.

Ealiom comparison... Now with hi-res grumpy.

I had much more luck with another of my characters. The options to recreate his distinctive downward glance of disdain were all present. The only options that I found lacking in his particular creation were those for tattoos.

He's as badass as he looks

So after creating nine new pilot avatars I can say that I am impressed with the editors’ power. I am a little sore about the lack of personal options. Minmatar tattoos, Gallente face markings, Caldari scars and Amarr religious icons to name a few. The options present and the power of the engine driving the new tool makes up for these shortcomings. Best of all is that while I did like my old avatars. The new ones are already growing on me.

Having seen what players have been making is fun in of itself. But who wants to read my words when pictures can illustrate it far more.

Here’s a collage of some of the best and worst pilot avatars I’ve come across. Enjoy!

I found all of these in Jita. There will be some truly astounding portraits out there I'm sure.